Month: May 2015

Going into business is an investment. You put your hard earned money out for hopes that it will grow with the help of profits. But just like any other investment, opening a business regardless of size involves a lot of risk. One of the biggest risks out there for any entrepreneur would have to be a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation or a CVL.

Of course no entrepreneur would want to close shop unless worse comes to worse. However, certain situations may call for it, insolvency being the major factor here. When the entity can no longer fulfill their obligations as they mature within at least a twelve month period and when disbursements outweigh cash inflows, the company could be suffering from a financial distress and unlike other dilemmas this can be pretty bad.

Remember that it is considered illegal for entities to continue trading should they already be fully aware or at least clued in about the situation. Directors have the responsibility of managing the affairs of the business. This includes seeing to it that creditor interests are fulfilled before anything else. In other words, they should be paid first before profits are distributed to owners. Creditors include not only the financial providers and vendors of the entity but also its own employees. Should directors be proven to have committed a breach of such responsibility, they may be held personally liable and thus may have to pay creditors not only with their shares in the business but also with their own separate and personal assets.

A Creditors Voluntary Liquidation or CVL is a process that allows an insolvent company to wind up its affairs and close on their own accord. Such decision is initiated by the board of directors and made to roll through a board resolution. Here, the company will often hire a qualified liquidation and insolvency practitioner to handle the case. An appraiser may also be called in to determine the value of the assets to be liquidated. Meetings with the shareholders and creditors will also take place as well as an appointment of a liquidator. A CVL may not be in your plans when you put up shop but should it happen, one has to learn how to bow down gracefully or else suffer the wrath of a winding up petition in court.

When certain risks have become too high and insolvency has been proven after thorough examination and deliberation, a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation should be considered if not, other business recovery options should be looked into.

When do you frequently hear companies close down? Oftentimes it’s during those instances where they get buried in debt, economy is down and losses abound, market interest drops or when sales have plummeted. What most people fail to realize is that a winding up can also occur even with a fully operational and solvent company. This is where the Members’ Voluntary Liquidation or MVL comes into the picture.

A Members’ Voluntary Liquidation is a resolution for willingly winding up a business by its owners, directors and shareholders who have the power to appoint a liquidator or winding up practitioner. The MVL is not an insolvency procedure and as a matter of fact can only be taken by entities who are not debt heavy, who have an adequate ratio of cash inflow versus outflow and who are considered fully operational. This also makes it a necessity for companies who want to take an MVL to pass a statutory declaration of solvency as it is deemed illegal for you to take it under the guise of an insolvency case. Should you do so, that will put you criminally liable.

But it doesn’t make sense just yet. Why would a solvent business want to close shop and liquidate its assets? Is it actually feasible and legal? When is it a valid and necessary procedure?

There are several reasons as to why owners, directors and shareholders would want to get a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation rolling and the list below enumerates some of the most common reasons behind it.

Accomplishment of Goals and Achievement of Purpose

Every entity or organization was built and founded upon several reasons and numerous objectives. There are those where upon completion of these will have to cease to exist. If the very purpose of the organization has been attained or even if it has been lost, the business may want to liquidate in order to redistribute its assets to its stakeholders.

Death, Resignation or Retirement of a Vital Member

Some entities find themselves heavily dependent upon the expertise and talents of a few or a single employee that once such professional has been lost, threats show themselves left and right. To avoid aggravating the situation, an MVL can be an option.

Retirement or Reinvestment Purposes

After working for long years, owners may want to retire and use their share in the business this way. In some cases they may want to venture out on other businesses and close the one they have at the moment. These will require a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation to take place to turn into cash all fixed assets as well as fulfill remaining obligations.

One of the worst news that a business owner and entrepreneur can get is one of insolvency. It’s awful and really heavy on the shoulders. After all, no business person opens up shop with the end goal of closing it down. You want it to strive, to grow, to expand and to survive the years to come. What’s worse than knowing this news is relaying it to your team or to your employees. It’ll surely be bad news but you’ve got to do what you got to do. On that note, Aabrs.com has some tips on how to break the insolvency dilemma to them.

Get your facts straight. – You first have to gather all your evidences. Sure, you don’t have to necessarily get into the nitty gritty of everything but you need your facts and you need them so you can better explain the situation. You don’t want to exaggerate or give false information. That’s not the way to go.

Come up with solution options and a timetable. – When insolvency looms, companies need to look into options and alternatives. This includes having a timetable of tasks and errands to do. You need to have this in check too so you can tell your employees of the measures being done to solve the problem and have them in full cooperation.

Keep them rightly and aptly informed. – They have to be clued-up timely, correctly and appropriately. Eventually, everyone in the company will get the news and you don’t want them to make speculations and come up with the wrong ideas. There are after all red flags and warning signs that your staff can notice. It’s best to tell them than keep them second guessing or making the wrong assumptions.

Tell them of your plans. – What do you plan to do? How are you fixing the problem? You need to tell them too. This way, cooperation will be upheld as mentioned earlier. Furthermore, should liquidation be on the rise your employees will have a chance to prepare themselves. They are after all striving to provide for themselves and their families. Catching them off guard can cause a huge turmoil in their income streams. Good employers should not be selfish. They watch out for their staff too.

Breaking the insolvency news is never easy but if you have the above tips from Aabrs.com in mind, then things should run more smoothly.